3/7/2014

The application now supports over 22 languages ... check the forum for an overview.

Simon

27/6/2014

Submitted application to LG for a 3rd QA ... will see what comes of it.

Big thanks to Alf Stevens for his considerable donation to the project.

Simon

15/5/2014

Small update ... new release with more fixes for LG QA.

Simon

News, Announcements and Other Stuff

13/5/2014

Quick update ... new release with more fixes for LG QA.

Simon

9/5/2014

Quick update ... new release with initial fixes for LG QA.

Been a while ... thanks for your patience...

LG have been really helpful the past few weeks - just took a long time for them to get to the app.

New site URL is http://plex.sithari.com.au please update bookmarks.

Simon

10/2/2014

Quick update ... sorry been slow last few weeks with move and renovations ... and flooding :-(

I hope to get back on track soon ... thanks for your patience...

No word for LG yet either!

Simon

10/2/2014

Quick update ... move if finally finished but still lots to do ...

So I am about to start on channel support and some more bug fixes,
thanks for your patience.

Please if you are going to raise an issue, ask a question or request
an enhancement check the existing entries first!

Thanks, Simon

29/1/2014

New release tonight includes improved music functions and fixes a bug
or two. I had hoped to include some kind of audio visualization but the
audio API don't provide a means of analising the music stream. Thinking
of providing a image slideshow based on keywords searches of Bing images
(that's right g$$gle) will see how it goes.

A big thanks to the new platinum sponsor Paul Johnson who made a
considerable donation to the project - very generous.

Cheers, Simon

28/1/2014

No release tonight sorry ... Google has disabled my adsense account 3
days before they had to actually pay me, with no warning and no reason
provided. I appealed and it was rejected still no reason, just a thank
you for your understanding. "Do no evil" ha!

I just lost a month and half worth of site revenue - So I am taking the night off to regroup and push along the LG
submission process.

Cheers, Simon

27/1/2014

Small update tonight some tweaks to the UI. I have done a little
research and it would appear that while the application on run at 720p
resolution this does not effect video playing at full 1080p using the
integrated media player - so enjoy you content in full resolution! Been
a busy few days as I am getting ready to move house at the end of the
week - have been in the current house for over 6 years and it's only
when you pack you realize how much stuff you have collected.

I swear if one more person asks me about channels I will scream ... I
am getting there you just need to be patient!

Cheers, Simon

24/1/2014

Another minor update tonight - a number of people has requested
unwatched episode counts on TV show thumbs - done! They won't appear it
unwatched overlays are disabled in options. Also for those using magic
remote you can now press the back button on home screen to close quick
media preview.

Cheers, Simon

23/1/2014

Small update this evening ... a number of people have complained
about text size so I have added an option to turn on extra large text.
Personally I haven't had any issues at 3 meters away from the TV, but I
do have a 55" display. It may need further tweaks over time ... thanks
to all of you who have been clicking away!

Cheers, Simon

21/1/2014

Hi all ... been a hectic few days and haven't had much time to work
on the application.

Have had a brief dialog with someone from LG regarding the submission
process and it is moving along - here's hoping I can get it off soon.
Don't worry the latest version will always be here first for testing
etc.

I have a few things in the works at the moment, specifically an
update music player and an image slideshow, I hope to have them out in
the next week.

Just a heads up to everyone who keeps asking - you can't
install the application on your TV without it coming from the Smart
World application store, until then it has to run off a USB drive.

BTW fixed a bug with the registration system on the site so now
anyone who has registered should appear ... 250+ registrations so far!

Cheers, Simon

19/1/2014

Just released a minor update, which addresses a couple of reported
bugs with subtitle selection, and an option to turn off watched/unwatched icons.

Still working thru the whole LG application submission process, basically writing a help document that walks them thru the
application - you would thing it would be obvious but anyway.

Cheers, Simon

18/1/2014

New release tonight allows for usage of standalone LG media player
for direct play content (sorry doesn't work for streaming), which I hope
provides full 1080p playback.

See release notes on download page for other inclusions. Also I have
published a new comment on forum which talks about recent finds relating
to subtitles.

Good to registrations on the rise but still no where near the total
visitors/downloads to the site I can see in the stats. Thanks to all
those who have already registered.

Cheers, Simon

14/1/2014

Small release tonight allows multiple PMS support if using scan function- see release notes on download page.

Please register if your using the application - only 30 registrations at present!

Cheers, Simon

13/1/2014

Small release tonight .. mainly bug fixes.

I am in the middle of implementing a load on scroll function for the
media listing pages (i.e. only load content as it is required), which
should see improvements in responsiveness for those of you with large
media libraries. I hope to have this released in the next few days.

A few people have reported that some videos are reporting as finished
when only part way thru playing. I have noticed this myself on one or
two movies when using direct play. It would seem that the finished event
is being triggered by the LG media player for some reason?!? I really
have no idea how to fix this right now, as it is a built in LG API event
which I just check for and then process. If you have noticed this please
publish the video XML from PMS in the forum so I can look for patterns.

Cheers, Simon

12/1/2014

Small release tonight .. hopefully you will see some speed improvements
on the home menu!

I realize turning transcoding on by default has some of you hot and
bothered ... I am looking at various options to enable direct play when
it isn't required.

Based on current PMS functionality it appear this is based on transcoding
profiles which I am investigating, but PLEX also state that direct play
won't support subtitles (i.e. embedded subtitles won't work).

There are a lot of people screaming for different options and functions
and I am not going to be able to keep everyone happy, but I am doing
my best.

Back to my normal work tomorrow :-(

Good night all, Simon

11/1/2014

Major release tonight which implements HLS (m3u8) adaptive streaming
as default play option (I will add an option soon to allow for direct
play). This deal with a range of options specifically audio and integrated
subtitle selection as PMS handles it.

Audio and subtitle stream selection is now done on the media information
page similar to PMS web client, the application will also remember what
has been selected in the future.

By popular demand you can now also mark videos as watched or unwatched
in the client.

While your here check out the sponsors page it's slowly growing and
please if you download the application register it only takes a second.

Good night all, Simon

10/1/2014

Small release tonight which implements HLS (m3u8) adaptive streaming
via the magic icon on the player. This will use the audio stream and
subtitles (including embedded) as selected inside PMS web client. I
plan to move the transcoded play icon currently on the player and to
the media information page along with the option to select audio and
subtitles (similar to PMS Web Client).

Also LGs ability to select audio is rather limited as you must specify
a 2 letter language code to pick an audio stream, this doesn't help
when there are two stream for say English - I have no idea which is
selected. Also in order to pick and set an audio stream the video must
be playing! I have found a number of test media files which just
crash the application when attempting to play due to this requirement.

All of this leads me to thing that HLS streaming is the way to go
by default, with an option to direct stream.

Please test out the HLS transcoding and let me know how you
go via the forum, please don't lodge bug reports for this function!

Thanks to my official sponsors for their donations towards development,
I am pulling some ridiculous hours between work and family duties trying
to get things working and it is taking a toll!

I am currently sitting on about 5000 unique visitors to my site with
an average of about 600 visitors per day.

Thanks, Simon

10/1/2014

New register feature on the site - please take a moment to register
your details. Other than a location no personal details will be revealed.

Thanks, Simon

9/1/2014 11:35PM

A quick update have managed to get m3u8 streaming working on a video
with subtitles and alternate language :-).

Hope to have a release out in next few days which incorporates it!

Just put a quick update on the site which addresses default language
stream selection causing a freeze in the media player.

Good night, Simon

9/1/2014

A big thanks to all the sponsors who have made a donation via PayPal.
I am somewhat overwhelmed at people's generosity.

I am still testing a range of options with transcoding via the m3u8
adaptive streaming method provided by PLEX, and it is very frustrating
to say the least.

PMS works via the LG web browser but the same URLs used don't seem
o want to play nicely within the application media object provide by
LG. A number of people have reported issues and LGs responses have been
less than helpful, but I will persevere and see what I can work out.

Some people have asked about options for configuring subtitles (colour,
moving, etc.), just a heads up there is no API controls for subtitles
other than turning them on so I am somewhat limited in the options available,
until I can get streaming working reliably.

Cheers, Simon

8/1/2014

Another small release for today includes watched status icons on
movies and episodes, and I have turned off background art on hover by
default. This can be enabled in options if you wish.

Interested in how people have found the transcoding function? Let
me know via the forum.

Also by request there is an option to make a donation towards development
costs namely my time, up to you really. A little or a lot it all helps
me keep this thing going.

Cheers, Simon

8/1/2014

Small release today includes some subtitle and audio stream changes,
along with experimental transcoding option within player.

Please note transcoding is highly experimental and very basic, but
it may provide options of people who have video formats LG doesn't like,
or where subtitles are integrated.

Cheers, Simon

7/1/2014

SO I have just spent several hours playing with generic transcoding
across a range of media and I have a headache!

My testing has succeeded in getting video playing at less the 3000
bps using MP4 and ACC with subtitles ;-) but you can't seek so far as
I can tell. You may be able to hack this by starting a new transcoding
session with a predefined offset but still testing to check this. Also
not sure if I can get video playing at full 1080P via the Media Player
device utilised within the SDK. It also appears you can't just redirect
the generic transcoding URL to the default LG player which may allow
full 1080P video...

I am about to look at options for the full blown transcoder utilizing
the m3u8 apple codec to see if it makes any difference and will keep
you posted.

Thanks for your patience.

Cheers, Simon

7/1/2014

So I am currently looking at transcoding to provide a fall-back for
media and subtitles that the LG platform can't play natively. I have
had some success with the generic transcoder and hope to have something
in place shortly. I have also tweaked the player to set last used subtitles
back to PMS, and to use the default PMS setting when opening media.

Will keep you posted ...

Thanks to all for your support and in helping test the application
in preparation for submitting to LG.

As I have said previously this has taken up far more of my time then
I have originally expected, and has grown in to much more than my simple
"pet project".

I am pushing out updates as fast as I can, but please keep in mind
I have a family (wife and three year old boy, plus another boy on the
way) and a full time job.

Cheers, Simon

5/1/2014

Some testers have requested that the last media filter selection
(i.e. View by folder or first letter) becomes the default on next open,
so I have implemented this. This should speed things up for those of
you with big libraries.

I have also tweaked the font sizes throughout the application to
try to alleviate issues some people have reported with readability at
a distance. Personally I had no issues on my LG 55LA7400 but I understand
those with smaller screens or poor eye sight may have had some trouble.
Hopefully this will not be an issue now.

I have also enabled some extra options to shut down the dialogs on
the media player.

Thanks, I never realised how much time this "pet" project would consume
when I started.

Simon

4/1/2014

Some people have raised issues with speed on some older model TVs
... sorry there isn't allot I can do about it, the client is constantly
talking to PMS and by its nature presenting graphically rich information
back to the user.

LG/HTML5 doesn't give you allot of control over caching, and in some
cases would generate other issues.

I have done what I can to tweak speed where I can specifically around
image loading, but I can't make older model TVs any faster, sorry.